- Joined
- Aug 18, 2010
- Location
- Dallas/Fort-Worth
NOTE: This thread will see very *FEW* updates moving forward. Due to having zero overclocking ability, the board is NOT recommended vs. an SR-2 for best ppd/$$.
However, if you are looking for NO OC and are not concerned about performance/$$ then read on.
Latest news:
--> Price Drop! Newegg has the Z8NA-D6C (MIO) for $249 + S&H. (9/11/10) Thanks to pik4chu for the notice!
--> 'Open Box' Z8NA-D6 (w/Remote Mgmt) boards for $210 +S&H @ Newegg. (9/12/10)
--> Thread is being discontinued (10/14/10)
--> Updating PSU, CPU, Thermal, and Performance sections (10/14/10)
HAI!
Within the Folding/SETI/Rosetta team(s), there appears to be quite a bit of interest in the dual-socket 1366 Xeon 'Z8NA-D6C' board by ASUS. (Including the Z8NA-D6 as well.) My experience with this build is scattered across multiple threads, which isn't very helpful to those trying to glean information in our community. This is an attempt to consolidate and provide a single point of reference for those wanting to create a similar build.
ASUS's website: Z8NA-D6C and Z8NA-D6
Newegg's website: Z8NA-D6C and Z8NA-D6
Once the build is 100% complete, this thread will be less of a 'build log' and more of a 'reference build' to be made available for all distributed computing teams.
Starting out, I'll have this broken down to the following categories: CPUs, RAM, PSU, Cases, Thermal (heatsinks/fans/cooling), Performance (PPD and such).
Feel free to provide any feedback or suggestions!
Z8NA-D6C Baseline information and specs:
CPUs
List of supported CPUs from ASUS's site. NOTE the required BIOS version! As of this writing, Newegg is not shipping the latest BIOS! (9/11/10).
Temporary solution: pik4chu has found a vendor on eBay selling and shipping the chip quicker than ASUS. Just purchased one myself. /sad panda (9/11/10) Additional note: This online BIOS vendor does the trick.
Z8NA-D6:
Z8NA-D6C:
RAM
You CANNOT use "standard" desktop RAM on this board! Learn from my mistake!
Officially supported RAM "Qualified Vendor List": PDF Link to ASUS's website
Here are your RAM choice types:
(Note: 'Registered' and 'Buffered' are the same thing. Including both for completeness.)
PSUs
If you have a PSU validated/used on this board please let me know
Cases & Enclosures
This may be a very short section. Possibly removed if no interest.
These boards use the standard ATX form factor, so the options are virtually unlimited.
Things to note, however: Make sure you have sufficient airflow, as you have roughly twice the heat load of a standard single-socket system. Additionally, the Intel 5500 NB supposedly runs hot. Enthusiast or "high airflow" cases should suffice.
Will verify NB heat range and dissipation once the rig is up and running.
Thermal: Heatsinks, Cooling, Fans, Etc
This board does not grant the luxury of space. The CPU sockets are right next to each other.
Confirmed to work:
Confirmed NOT to work:
Performance (PPD/kWh/$$$)
Using 2x Xeon E5620s, the rig pulls roughly 220w~225w continuously while folding
(No expansion cards, but using 4x HDDs; 2x 7.2k & 2x 10k HDDs)
F@H Numbers, pulled from our very own HFM.NET using v0.5.1 r198
Running SMP2 console v6.30 (Released: 2010-07-27) w/ "-bigadv -smp 16 -verbosity 9"
The following was using two SMP clients both configured as follows:
Running SMP2 console v6.30 (Released: 2010-07-27) w/ "-bigadv -smp 8 -verbosity 9"
Backup Slot 1 of 3
Backup Slot 2 of 3
Backup Slot 3 of 3
However, if you are looking for NO OC and are not concerned about performance/$$ then read on.
Latest news:
--> Price Drop! Newegg has the Z8NA-D6C (MIO) for $249 + S&H. (9/11/10) Thanks to pik4chu for the notice!
--> 'Open Box' Z8NA-D6 (w/Remote Mgmt) boards for $210 +S&H @ Newegg. (9/12/10)
--> Thread is being discontinued (10/14/10)
--> Updating PSU, CPU, Thermal, and Performance sections (10/14/10)
HAI!
Within the Folding/SETI/Rosetta team(s), there appears to be quite a bit of interest in the dual-socket 1366 Xeon 'Z8NA-D6C' board by ASUS. (Including the Z8NA-D6 as well.) My experience with this build is scattered across multiple threads, which isn't very helpful to those trying to glean information in our community. This is an attempt to consolidate and provide a single point of reference for those wanting to create a similar build.
ASUS's website: Z8NA-D6C and Z8NA-D6
Newegg's website: Z8NA-D6C and Z8NA-D6
Once the build is 100% complete, this thread will be less of a 'build log' and more of a 'reference build' to be made available for all distributed computing teams.
Starting out, I'll have this broken down to the following categories: CPUs, RAM, PSU, Cases, Thermal (heatsinks/fans/cooling), Performance (PPD and such).
Feel free to provide any feedback or suggestions!
Z8NA-D6C Baseline information and specs:
CPUs
List of supported CPUs from ASUS's site. NOTE the required BIOS version! As of this writing, Newegg is not shipping the latest BIOS! (9/11/10).
Temporary solution: pik4chu has found a vendor on eBay selling and shipping the chip quicker than ASUS. Just purchased one myself. /sad panda (9/11/10) Additional note: This online BIOS vendor does the trick.
Z8NA-D6:
Z8NA-D6C:
RAM
You CANNOT use "standard" desktop RAM on this board! Learn from my mistake!
Officially supported RAM "Qualified Vendor List": PDF Link to ASUS's website
Here are your RAM choice types:
(Note: 'Registered' and 'Buffered' are the same thing. Including both for completeness.)
- ECC + Registered/Buffered
- Non-ECC + Registered/Buffered
- ECC + Non-Registered/Unbuffered
- Non-ECC + Non-Registered/Unbuffered (I thought this was = 'normal' desktop memory. Apparently not.)
PSUs
If you have a PSU validated/used on this board please let me know
- Corsair 750HX (Jmtyra)
- NZXT Hale90 850W (Jmtyra)
Cases & Enclosures
This may be a very short section. Possibly removed if no interest.
These boards use the standard ATX form factor, so the options are virtually unlimited.
Things to note, however: Make sure you have sufficient airflow, as you have roughly twice the heat load of a standard single-socket system. Additionally, the Intel 5500 NB supposedly runs hot. Enthusiast or "high airflow" cases should suffice.
Will verify NB heat range and dissipation once the rig is up and running.
Thermal: Heatsinks, Cooling, Fans, Etc
This board does not grant the luxury of space. The CPU sockets are right next to each other.
Confirmed to work:
- Cooler Master H212+ (IF you ARE NOT using RAM w/heat spreaders) (Jmtyra)
- Corsair H50 (Jmtyra)
- Corsair H70 (Jmtyra)
Confirmed NOT to work:
- Cooler Master H212+ (IF your ARE using RAM w/head spreaders) (Jmtyra)
Performance (PPD/kWh/$$$)
Using 2x Xeon E5620s, the rig pulls roughly 220w~225w continuously while folding
(No expansion cards, but using 4x HDDs; 2x 7.2k & 2x 10k HDDs)
F@H Numbers, pulled from our very own HFM.NET using v0.5.1 r198
Running SMP2 console v6.30 (Released: 2010-07-27) w/ "-bigadv -smp 16 -verbosity 9"
Code:
Project ID: 2685
Core: GRO-A3
Credit: 8955
Frames: 100
Number of Frames Observed: 70
Min. Time / Frame : 00:37:52 - 26,430.3 PPD
Avg. Time / Frame : 00:38:16 - 26,016.9 PPD
Number of Frames Observed: 44
Min. Time / Frame : 00:37:52 - 26,430.3 PPD
Avg. Time / Frame : 00:38:18 - 25,983.0 PPD
Code:
Project ID: 2686
Core: GRO-A3
Credit: 8955
Frames: 100
Number of Frames Observed: 12
Min. Time / Frame : 00:36:12 - 28,276.4 PPD
Avg. Time / Frame : 00:36:32 - 27,890.3 PPD
Cur. Time / Frame : 00:36:33 - 26,993.1 PPD
R3F. Time / Frame : 00:36:38 - 26,931.7 PPD
All Time / Frame : 00:36:32 - 27,005.4 PPD
Eff. Time / Frame : 00:38:58 - 25,319.0 PPD
Code:
Project ID: 2692
Core: GRO-A3
Credit: 8955
Frames: 100
Number of Frames Observed: 43
Min. Time / Frame : 00:34:11 - 30,815.2 PPD
Avg. Time / Frame : 00:36:07 - 28,374.3 PPD
Code:
Project ID: 6060
Core: GRO-A3
Credit: 481
Frames: 100
Number of Frames Observed: 100
Min. Time / Frame : 00:02:48 - 19,913.0 PPD
Avg. Time / Frame : 00:02:49 - 19,736.5 PPD
Code:
Project ID: 6061
Core: GRO-A3
Credit: 481
Frames: 100
Number of Frames Observed: 100
Min. Time / Frame : 00:02:52 - 19,222.4 PPD
Avg. Time / Frame : 00:02:54 - 18,892.0 PPD
Code:
Project ID: 6062
Core: GRO-A3
Credit: 481
Frames: 100
Number of Frames Observed: 35
Min. Time / Frame : 00:02:47 - 20,092.1 PPD
Avg. Time / Frame : 00:02:53 - 19,056.0 PPD
Code:
Project ID: 6077
Core: GRO-A3
Credit: 481
Frames: 100
Number of Frames Observed: 9
Min. Time / Frame : 00:02:55 - 18,730.3 PPD
Avg. Time / Frame : 00:03:06 - 17,093.5 PPD
The following was using two SMP clients both configured as follows:
Running SMP2 console v6.30 (Released: 2010-07-27) w/ "-bigadv -smp 8 -verbosity 9"
Code:
Project ID: 6701
Core: GRO-A3
Credit: 921
Frames: 100
Name: CPU0
Number of Frames Observed: 1
Min. Time / Frame : 00:12:06 - 5,930.5 PPD
Avg. Time / Frame : 00:12:06 - 5,930.5 PPD
Cur. Time / Frame : 00:12:06 - 4,774.8 PPD
R3F. Time / Frame : 00:00:00 - 0.0 PPD
All Time / Frame : 00:12:06 - 4,774.8 PPD
Eff. Time / Frame : 00:18:40 - 3,095.1 PPD
Project ID: 6701
Core: GRO-A3
Credit: 921
Frames: 100
Name: CPU1
Number of Frames Observed: 1
Min. Time / Frame : 00:12:13 - 5,845.8 PPD
Avg. Time / Frame : 00:12:13 - 5,845.8 PPD
Cur. Time / Frame : 00:12:13 - 4,729.2 PPD
R3F. Time / Frame : 00:00:00 - 0.0 PPD
All Time / Frame : 00:12:13 - 4,729.2 PPD
Eff. Time / Frame : 00:18:40 - 3,095.1 PPD
Code:
Project ID: 6701
Core: GRO-A3
Credit: 921
Frames: 100
Name: CPU0
Number of Frames Observed: 10
Min. Time / Frame : 00:11:41 - 6,250.6 PPD
Avg. Time / Frame : 00:11:52 - 6,106.3 PPD
Name: CPU1
Number of Frames Observed: 10
Min. Time / Frame : 00:11:43 - 6,223.9 PPD
Avg. Time / Frame : 00:11:50 - 6,132.1 PPD
Backup Slot 1 of 3
Backup Slot 2 of 3
Backup Slot 3 of 3
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